Two conservative candidates, each backed by the pro-Second Amendment group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, won Tuesday evening in a pair of closely watched Jefferson County state Senate GOP primary races.

Laura Woods maintained a 55 percent to 45 percent edge over Lang Sias in Senate District 19, with 47 percent of the votes counted.

Tony Sanchez held a 33-point lead in Senate District 22 over Mario Nicolais, with 37 percent of votes counted.

Both Sias and Nicolais conceded.

The primary contests in both Senate districts will set the stage for a November election battle Republicans hope returns control of the state Senate to them.

Democrats hold a paper-thin 18-17 advantage in the Senate.

Woods will face Democrat Rachel Zenzinger in the fall to determine who will represent Senate District 19, which covers portions of Arvada and Westminster.

Zenzinger, a former Arvada city councilwoman, was appointed to the seat last year after fellow Democrat Evie Hudak resigned from the Senate in the face of a threatened recall election from pro-gun forces.

Woods, a former court reporter, played a significant role in pushing Hudak out of her seat.

“The voters want a real conservative. They want liberty, and they are tired of Democrats,” Woods said.

With Sanchez the victor in Senate District 22, which centers on Lakewood, he will take on veteran Democratic Sen. Andy Kerr in November.

Sanchez moved to Colorado from California three years ago and became a state delegate.

“People really want liberty and limited government — that was the primary issue,” Sanchez said.

“People are sick and tired of politics as usual.”

The primary contests were marked by strongly worded campaign fliers and e-mails that sometimes have turned nasty. This month, Woods apologized for sharing a third-party post on her Facebook page that compared her opponent to infamous abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell.

Nicolais also was hit by an attack from the Colorado Campaign for Life, which sent GOP voters a flier with the header “Apathetic to the unborn.”

The group placed Nicolais’ photo alongside that of Gosnell, who last year was sent to prison for life after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies born alive at his Philadelphia abortion clinic.

Tuesday’s results showed the powerful role played by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, which has been known for going after fellow Republicans it doesn’t believe are conservative enough.

The group endorsed Woods and Sanchez and went on the attack against Sias and Nicolais, despite the latter two candidates’ solid Second Amendment credentials.

Originally from Boston, John Aguilar covers Denver's suburbs for The Denver Post, where he has worked since April 2014. He has also worked at the Boulder County Business Report, the Rocky Mountain News and the Boulder Daily Camera.

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